Philanthropy and profitability can go hand-in-hand

Reviewing The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World by By John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan, the Economist (subscription) says:

If you are setting out to save the world rather than to make a profit, it is perhaps not surprising that financial institutions are less likely to give you money than your friends and family, or trusts and foundations. .... If the business plan does not set profitability as a goal, then investors are likely to see it as philanthropy, not investment.

It's a shame that the attainment of important social and environmental goals is either assumed to arise from a growing economy, or given over to bodies - mostly government agencies - that, for nebulous historical reasons, do not reward employees according to how well they achieve their stated objectives. The result is that the goals go largely unachieved - and wealthy corporations and individuals become even more wealthy, often at some cost to society as a whole and the environment.

Social Policy Bonds change all that. They would channel the market's incentives and efficiencies into the solution of social problems. These are the same incentives that have generated enormous wealth in the private sector, lifted millions out of poverty, but at the same time worsened other social and environmental problems. Social Policy Bonds would mean that profitability and philanthropy could go hand-in-hand. If any philanthropist or anybody connected to any philanthropic organization would like to know more, please contact me directly. For reasons that I can well understand, no single such organization has ever replied to a single one of my emails.